weapons of war, symptoms of madness
by lazyweekendmornings
Summary: Ginny goes to see a friend after a particularly bad night. (Set after 'all your fumble words'.)


"Your birthday's coming up," was the first thing Luna said when she opened the door to the rook-shaped-house on the top of the hill.

"Hi, Luna," Ginny said, stepping into the house without waiting to be invited.

"Hello," said Luna pleasantly.

Ginny looked around the house. The living room was messy and looked very much the way the Burrow looked when they first went back after the war. "Where's your dad?" she asks.

Luna shrugged. "He's had to give testimony at the Ministry today. Apparated this morning."

"I thought the trials were over," Ginny said.

"Well, the trials of Death Eaters are over. But there's still other things going on. Daddy's got to make sure he isn't arrested for taking the Death Eaters' side when it came to Harry. He said he did it to protect me, but I suppose Kingsley wants to make sure he can be trusted. Would you like some Gurdyroot tea? I brewed it this morning," Luna said cheerfully, and led Ginny to the kitchen.

Ginny wrinkled her nose at the prospect, but she follows her in anyway. A thin layer of dust covers the kitchen counter, the floor, the walls. She'd learnt to recognise the signs everywhere. At home, at Diagon Alley, at the Ministry… signs of rebuilding. Signs of destruction. Ginny thinks of the battle of Hogwarts, walls being rent apart, destruction everywhere, _Fred_…

She paused mid-stride, leans against the pale green wall to try and compose herself.She was here. At Ottery St Catchpole, with Luna, in her old house. She clenched her hand into a fist, dug her nails into her palms.

After a minute, she could think straight again. Luckily, Luna was busy with the tea – or, knowing Luna, pretending to be busy with the tea to give her a little while with her thoughts. Ginny loved her sometimes.

"Have you thought about going back?" she blurted out.

Luna didn't need to ask her what she was talking about. She turned around, offered Ginny a bright blue cup, containing some sort of purple steaming liquid. Ginny took a small sip. It wasn't actually that bad, so she took another.

"Going back to Hogwarts?" Luna said. "Well, I haven't been back in a while. Not since I was taken during the Christmas holidays, remember?"

Ginny resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She didn't think that forgetting that was really an option.

"I haven't been back since Easter," she said.

"Well, we've been back to meet McGonagall," Luna pointed out, takes a sip of her own tea. She moved to sit on the kitchen counter, dangling her legs. She was wearing what looked like a silver set of robes that seem to have been cut off at the knees by hand, making for a very odd sort of dress. Her pale legs were covered with scars, but Ginny supposed that's true for all of them now.

"I keep having this dream," she said, focused on her tea so she wouldn't have to look at Luna, into her too-kind eyes. "I'm back at school, with the others. We walk into the Great Hall, but… instead of the Sorting Hat in the front, there's Fred. Lying there."

Luna didn't say anything for a moment. And then: "You know, one of the signs of Nargle infestation is recurring nightmares. Daddy said our house was infested after Mum died, that's why we kept having bad dreams all the time."

Ginny looked up at Luna, quirked an eyebrow. "It seems like Nargles are drawn to sites of trauma, then."

"Oh, yes," Luna said seriously. "It's why Harry was so bothered by them after his godfather died."

"Makes sense, yeah. Are they like Thestrals, then? You have to see a dead body or two to be bothered by them?" Ginny said.

"I suppose so," Luna agreed. She met Ginny's eyes. Her eyes were even wider than usual and very serious, and Ginny suddenly felt like smiling. She took another sip of her tea to hide her amused expression, suddenly wishing Harry was there to give her one of his wry, amused smiles. Speaking of which…

"Thanks for Harry's present, by the way. He loves it," she said proudly. "He's taken it to this special shop in Diagon Alley to get it framed. Said he's going to put it up on the wall once he and Ron move into George's."

"That's good. I was worried it would make him upset, what with the reminders of death and everything," Luna said.

"Well, if reminders of death upset him, I don't think he would've survived all these years," Ginny said dryly.

"Yes, you have a point," Luna agreed. This was why Ginny loved her: she never had to worry about saying the wrong thing or upsetting her. It was why she had left this morning, as soon as Harry had left for the Ministry, walked the half an hour or so over to Luna's to talk to her. Hermione was at home, but she had been looking suspiciously weepy all morning, ever since she'd opened up a letter from her parents, and Ginny was ashamed to admit it, but she didn't have the wherewithal to comfort anyone else right now.

"What did McGonagall tell you, during your meeting with her?" Ginny asked, setting her now empty cup down on the counter.

Luna tilted her head to the side, as if trying to recall as accurately as she could. "She said that I didn't have to worry about anything I'd missed, and she would personally help me catch up. She also told me I'd been very brave, and she was thinking of making me Head Girl."

Ginny raised her eyebrows. "You're going to be Head Girl?" she said, grinning. "That's incredible, Luna!"

"Oh, no. I said no," Luna said serenely. "Hermione's going back, and I think she would be rather sad if she didn't get the position. Besides, I'm thinking of starting a student edition of the _Quibbler_. I'll need all my time for that. Hogwarts doesn't have a student publication, and Daddy agrees with me that it's a good idea."

Ginny looked at Luna for a moment. "Aren't you scared?" she said after a second, apropos of absolutely nothing.

"Well, yes. But if we don't go back, we'll be scared forever, won't we?" Luna said. "And that's almost like we're letting the Carrows win. Besides, they can't torture us from Azkaban, can they?" Her voice had lost its usual dreamy tone, and she sounded quite matter-of-fact.

"I suppose you're right," agreed Ginny. "Remember how it was last year? With the Dementors on the Quidditch pitch?" When Luna nodded, she continued. "I don't know how I'm going to play Quidditch then, thinking about that."

"Well. I think you'll be able to do it. Even if you don't know if you can, I know you will," Luna said, and gave her a smile.

"What if I can't?" Ginny said. This was something she hadn't admitted to anyone, not even Harry. "What if I can't go back? So much has happened there…"

"Yes, but if you don't go, you'll miss everything that's going to happen. And some of the things that happen will be good. We have to keep going, don't we?" Luna said.

It seemed so simple when she put it like that. Ginny slowly looked at Luna, and the two of them shared a smile. "It'll be easier, without DA meetings this year," she pointed out. "We'll have time. Do you need a Quidditch Correspondent for your student _Quibbler_?"

Luna grinned. "I'd love one," she said happily. "And this means we'll be spending loads of time together, won't we?"

"I'm looking forward to it," Ginny promised, and she meant it.


End file.
